Which library research to tackle first

The library is where your farmers' cooperative researches upgrades together, but the list of research projects is long and not all of them are equally worthwhile. This guide ranks them by how quickly and how much they raise your selling income, and tells you which cooperative level unlocks each one and how long it takes. I only go by what the game itself states, so where a specific number is missing, I don't guess at it.

How library research actually works

You don't start library research on your own behalf, you start it as a farmers' cooperative. The cooperative leader or a deputy can launch it, and to do so they need enough members filling the researcher roles. Only one research project can run at a time, so before you commit to anything it's worth agreeing on what the cooperative's priority is.

Once the research finishes, the effect applies to every member of the cooperative, not just the person who started it. If your cooperative is short of researchers for a particular project, you can hire them for gold, so you don't have to rely purely on how many people happen to be online.

Why selling price research comes first

The library offers research from several areas. One raises the dollar amount you get for selling a specific resource or animal, another helps the cooperative run better, for example more members, higher subsidies, more time for projects or fewer collectibles needed. If your main goal is a bigger income, it makes sense to go after the ones that raise selling prices first, because they pay you back in cash on every single sale from then on.

Signing up for a research project costs a registration fee in dollars from the cooperative treasury. If you abandon a research project in progress and switch to a different one, the fee for the previous one is refunded, so a mistake can be fixed without losing the money entirely.

The order of the four key research projects by cooperative level and duration

Based on which cooperative level unlocks each project and how long the first stage takes, this is the order I'd go in.

Healthier pigs – unlocks as early as cooperative level 2 and the first stage takes just 16 hours, making it the fastest and earliest option available. It raises the dollar amount you get for selling pigs. Further stages come at level 6 (2 days 5 hours), 11 (2 days 20 hours) and 15 (3 days 6 hours).
Organic eggs – available from cooperative level 3, with the first stage running 2 days 2 hours. It raises the dollar amount you get for selling eggs. The next stage doesn't arrive until level 29 and takes 7 days 1 hour, so your cooperative will only reach it much later.
More milk varieties – unlocks at cooperative level 5 and the first stage takes 1 day 15 hours. It raises the dollar amount you get for selling milk and has five stages in all, from level 5 up to level 21, with the duration gradually rising from just under two days to three, so you can keep improving it as you go.
New apple variety – this is the last of the four to come around, because it needs cooperative level 14 and the first stage takes 3 days 4 hours. It raises the dollar amount you get for selling apples and has six stages up to level 33, with the final stage taking around five days.

This order also mirrors how the projects unlock with cooperative level, so you'll genuinely be able to stick to it without waiting for a level you don't have yet.

What to do when your cooperative is short on researchers

Before you launch a research project, check with the cooperative whether you have enough researchers. If you don't, the leader or a deputy can fill the missing slots by hiring for gold, which is especially worth it on shorter projects like Healthier pigs, where waiting for enough people would take longer than the research itself.

Since only one research project can run at a time, it makes sense to agree on the order in advance, ideally the one from the previous section, so that the cooperative can move straight on to the next one and the library doesn't sit idle for no reason.

Once the selling prices are done, the cooperative research comes next

Once you have the four selling price projects behind you, it's time for the ones that keep the cooperative running. Reinforcements unlocks as early as cooperative level 2 with a first stage of 11 hours and raises the maximum number of cooperative members. Process optimization is available from level 4 at 3 days 1 hour and reduces how many collectibles the cooperative needs for projects. Subsidies unlocks at level 5 at 2 days 1 hour and raises the dollar amount credited to the cooperative from donations. Negotiation skills arrives at level 8 at 2 days 12 hours and extends the time you have to finish cooperative projects.

These projects won't directly raise your selling income, but they make running the cooperative easier, so it's best to slot them in after the selling price research. Don't mix them up with certificates, which you earn from completed missions and spend on building and upgrading farming machines in the garage, and which have nothing to do with the library.

Buildings and products mentioned in the text

ApplesBasic product · Main farm

The fastest route to a bigger income is to start with Healthier pigs, carry on with Organic eggs and More milk varieties, and only then take on New apple variety, because that's exactly the order in which the projects unlock by cooperative level. Leave the ones that keep the cooperative running, like Reinforcements, Subsidies, Negotiation skills or Process optimization, for later, since they don't raise your income directly. Agree on the order with your cooperative in advance so the library never sits there with nothing in progress.

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